The present invention is directed generally to the field of adjustable slide bearings and more particularly to the use of adjustable slide bearings in seat equipment. The invention finds advantageous use in vehicle seating that uses fore and aft slide adjustment, as well as fore and aft and/or lateral isolating systems.
In vehicle seat design it is often important to adjust the fore/aft location of the seat or to isolate the seat occupant from various forces generated in the course of the vehicle's operation. As a result a wide variety of fore and aft adjustment mechanisms and “isolators” have been developed and marketed. In most of these adjustment mechanisms and isolators, there are two structures or seat suspension components that move back and forth or oscillate relative to one another. To facilitate this relative movement between seat suspension components, various bearing systems have been implemented. One such bearing system, which permits adjustment of slide bearings used in the design, is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,340. This patented design has enjoyed substantial commercial success, but nevertheless suffers from the disadvantage that it is relatively difficult to adjust the position of the bearings for optimal operation of the suspension.